Heading to New Orleans at the end of February with 11 and 12 year olds. We plan to stay at The Higgins by Hilton for 3 nights. We'll visit the WW2 Museum, some plantations, and take a swamp boat tour.

After New Orleans, we are heading to Vicksburg for 2 nights and would like to take a different route each way? Any suggestions please? Our full day in Vicksburg will be spent at the Civil War sites.

Thanks for your advice.

You didn't say where you were coming to New Orleans from. Do you plan to rent a car in New Orleans, drive to Vicksburg and then return to NO to give back the car? Mardi Gras ends on Fat Tuesday 2/16 and that is a big deal in New Orleans.

This is what I've put together during my research...

We will fly in from NH on 2/21 (so we should be clear of Mardi Gras). Renting a car and spending three nights at the Higgins. One day will be at Whitney Plantation, one at the WW2 Museum, and one on a swamp tour. I have a walking tour of the French Quarter for one afternoon and City Park to fill another. It'll be dependent on how long we stay at each place.

Drive to Vicksburg via Natchez. We'll stop at Emerald Mound, Sunken Trace, and other places along the way. Check in to the Hampton Inn Vicksburg for two nights

Full day in Vicksburg will be at the Civil War sites.

Drive back to New Orleans via Jackson, stopping at the Civil Rights Museum.

Don't forget that there is a Civil Rights Museum in Memphis at the former Lorraine Motel where MLK Jr. was killed. Also in Memphis is Graceland and the Sun Studio.

We won't be going as far as Memphis. After Vicksburg we will head back to New Orleans to fly home.

I don't know the plantation you mention but it driving upriver you should stop at either Oak Alley or Houmas House for a view of these really grand structures, even if just a photo op. The insensitivity of placing chemical plants adjacent to historic properties all along the river is rather overwhelming.

Fire Ants: If you don't know what fire ants are, the Vicksburg Battlefield is jammed with them so important to know with children what they are, where not to stand, and what an allergic reaction to the ant stings entails. Maybe not an issue if February but it certainly was in March. Note that the battlefield was the site of a months long siege and not what one would normally considered military fighting battles.

Editing to add links:
Houmas House basically from the River Rd (free view from near road)

Oak Alley Plantation (free view from road)